Teen Sues Over Banned 'Redneck' Shirt

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Tuesday June 26 9:18 AM ET

Teen Sues Over Banned 'Redneck' Shirt

NEWARK (Reuters) - Tom Sypniewski thought his ``redneck'' t-shirt was funny, but school officials deemed it offensive, ordered him to remove it and are now being sued for allegedly violating his free speech rights.

Sypniewski, 19, wore the shirt, which listed comic Jeff Foxworthy's ``Top 10 Reasons You Might Be A Redneck Sports Fan,'' to Warren Hills Regional High School on March 22 and was told to remove it. He refused and was suspended for three days, losing an appeal to the Board of Education in April.

District school officials in Washington, a small town in rural western New Jersey, said in a press release the shirt ''portrayed a message of racial stereotyping'' and violated the dress code. It said the shirt could have inflamed students, given the school's two-year history of racial tensions.

Sypniewski, who recently graduated, denied he is a racist or that the shirt carried a racist message.

``I wore it because it's funny,'' Sypniewski told a news conference outside U.S. District Court in Newark on Monday. ``To me a redneck is a hunter, a fisherman, an outdoorsman. I consider myself a redneck and I'm absolutely not a racist. What hurts me is the board accused me of trying to spread a racist message with the shirt. I think they owe me an apology.'' http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010626/od/tshirt_dc.html

-- (Ban@or.apology), June 26, 2001

Answers

I can't understand how the writer could write this whole story and leave out the most important information: what did the shirt actually say? Which words did the school officials specifically identify as offensive?

The story hints that the school claimed that the word "redneck" was offensively racist. Hinting is NOT good journalism.

"It said the shirt could have inflamed students..."

Did they ask any students if they thought it was inflammatory?

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), June 26, 2001.


You Might be a Redneck if.......

-- (Paracelsus@Pb.Au), June 26, 2001.

Thanks for the link.

It gives the general flavor of Foxworthy's humor, but I doubt the kid's t-shirt said what was listed there. For one thing, it listed 268 jokes. Even a nightshirt would have a hard time holding that many lines.

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), June 26, 2001.


Undoubtedly some redneck conservative school officials that were offended by it, and feel they have the right to censor our freedom of speech.

-- Dumbya's (holier than thou @ double. standard), June 26, 2001.

I think the AMUSING thing here is that the kid sued. Schools have RULES about appropriate apparel. They're even sent home in a handbook. My kids had many shirts that WE considered humorous. The novelty shops are full of them. My son had one that said, "Please don't piss me off. I'm running out of room to hide the bodies." My daughter had one we bought at a Bob Marley concert that said, "Will work for weed." They knew [as did I] that these shirts weren't appropriate apparel for a school setting.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), June 26, 2001.


"Rednecks" are po' whites, especially Southern po' whites, also known as "white trash" or "trailer trash". They most often are of Anglo, Scottish or Scotch/Irish ethnicity. They are the one minority group left that is politically correct to derogate. They don't go to colleges, don't work in offices, don't drink latte. All they do is build things, fix things, fight our wars, create a folk art (country music) and produce their share of poets, writers, musicians, politicians and scoudrels. Clinton is a redneck, Bush is not.

I stumbled upon a redneck movie tonight. I had seen Tender Mercies in 1984 and forgot how wonderful it is.

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), June 26, 2001.


Back up there a minute, Lars. FIRST you said that rednecks don't go to college and fight our wars. THEN you said that Clinton was a redneck. I suspect you need to rethink your statements.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), June 26, 2001.

I think he is a redneck and a scoundrel. I overgeneralized. Some rednecks go to college. Some avoid the military.

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), June 26, 2001.

Clinton is far more educated, intelligent, and refined than Bush could ever dream of being.

Dumbya isn't just a redneck, he is a DUMB redneck, the worst kind. On top of that, he is white trash.

-- (dumbya fans @ are. blind), June 27, 2001.


I too think it's funny that the kid sued. But we are in a nation filled with people who sue over everything. I say make them wear shirts and ties (and of course the shirts shouldn't be sleeveless).

-- Maria (anon@ymous.com), June 28, 2001.


Do you know how to do a redneck circumcision?

Kick his sister in the jaw.

-- (nemesis@awol.com), June 28, 2001.


grrooosssssssssss!!!!!!

-- (cin@cin.cin), June 28, 2001.

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